Between the Shadows
by Kawai Nakumora
Summary: 30 stories below the building with the title "The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense" there is a darkness. A young woman with a horrible past. Can she learn to control herself? Can she make friends with the loud red monkey?
1. Prologue

Between the Shadows

A Hellboy Fic

-Prologue-

There are many people in this world that are afraid of dark. I am not one of those people. I am one who illuminates the darkness, unsheathes the mysteries of the world. And furthermore, I keep those who are weak, safe from the inevitable darkness.

My name is Safiya (Sa-fee-yah) Padar. I am 24 years old and I have been dead for 16 years. I live 30 stories underground at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. It's not all that bad; though I do it quite annoyed when won't let me outside because they think I'm "unstable".

I can wander around the grounds though, which hold everything from every stretch of the imagination. One of the most famous is Hellboy. Stupid loud monkey. He keeps me up most of the time with his rants and tantrums. My room is a couple stories above his, but they sure as hell aren't sound proof.

You see, sleep is very important to me. I sleep most of the day. I am nocturnal, so it isn't much of a surprise. I got into the habit of sleeping during the day ever since the Bureau sent me out for the first time, but that doesn't happen very often anymore. Considering how many times I messed up.

I am a telepath. I control things with my mind, which really does come in handy. The only downside is when I lose my concentration. My powers get out of control, and I can destroy buildings, towns even if I'm not stopped. The only way to stop me is to knock me out, cold; which they seem to be able to do pretty well. I usually wake up about a week later, under lock down once more.

So I sleep most of the time. It seems the only place I'm comfortable is my own mind.

_A/N: Yeah, yeah I get bored easily I know. Well anyways, this is a character I made up after I saw the first Hellboy movie. I love that movie, it's amazing. Anyways, I'll probably write this fic when I'm bored and have nothing better to do. Any who, tell me what you think. And if you send me hate mail, I will personally eat your face. XD_

_-Kawai_


	2. Rude Awakening

Between the Shadows

Rude Awakenings

The silence was so comfortable, and surprising. Usually about now I'd be awoken by some stupid person downstairs with their regular daily routines.

The extra few minutes of comfortable sleep were nice, but of course, it didn't last.

"What the hell are you doing!?" The piercing, gruff voice floated up to my room. I groaned in annoyance. Four feet of steel between me and them and he somehow still manages to wake me up.

I sat straight up in bed when I heard a couple crashes and glass shattering. My dark hair fell in a tangled mess around my shoulder. I pulled my fingers through it quickly, straightening it a bit before tying it behind my neck in a low pony-tail.

Groggily, I kicked the blankets off my bed and hissed a number of curses under my breath as I turned the lock on my door. I heard the gears clank loudly and I pulled it open slowly for it weighted a ton. The guards on the other side of the door looked at me simply and raised their eyebrows.

"I'll only be a minute." I grumbled and walked down the hall. My grey sweatpants hung lowly on my hips, exposing my hip bones. The black tank top I wore was bunched up around my stomach from the position I'd slept in.

When I neared the opening to the rest of the institution I heard The Monkey continue his rant. In the mix of it all I glanced at my blue watch and the glass display behind me crashed in my annoyance and surprise. "I'm going to kill him." He woke me up at eleven o'clock in the morning.

I had only been asleep for five hours and I was exhausted.

I emerged from the doors and onto a balcony. I glanced down and saw him. It was hard to miss him, with his huge red body. He threw a desk across the room. "You've got to be kidding me!" He yelled gruffly.

His girlfriend, Liz, stood back rolling her eyes.

"Oy, monkey! Would you shut up, I'm trying to sleep!" I screamed down, my voice echoing slightly. They all turned their heads to see me leaning over the balcony, staring down at them with wide black eyes glazed with anger.

"Oh shut up! You sleep all day; it's not going to bother you!" He waved his fist at me, as if threatening me.

"You really are stupid aren't you? I don't go to bed until six a.m., asshole! So I would really appreciate it if you would SHUT. UP."

His fist clenched but then he waved his hand and turned away. "Not worth it." He groaned.

"Thank you." I said sarcastically. I turned away and had begun back down the hall when I heard a sharp clearing of someone throat beneath me.

I turned back slowly and raised one of my eyebrows. "What?" I hissed. But much to my dismay I was now addressing the head of the Bureau. "Crap." I thought to myself.

"Safiya, can you please try to get along? You two are on the same team, you should learn to respect each other."

I inwardly groaned at his speech. I leaned my elbows against the railing of the balcony and rested my chin on my hands. "Just keep him quiet so maybe I could actually get some sleep." I grumbled down to them.

"Just keep her from bitching about everything and I'll be okay." He grumbled.

"Red." Liz said, warning him slightly.

I groaned and dramatically swung myself around, about to walk back to my room when I heard another subtle, "Safiya."

I mumbled something incoherent to them and spun back around. "Yeah?" I muttered, annoyed.

He curled his index finger at me a couple times. "Since you're up, come on down." I moaned.

"Can I please go back to bed?"

"Come on, have lunch with us." He said this much to Hellboy's dismay.

I sighed in defeat and walked towards the stair well, carefully avoiding the shards of glass that had come off the display which I accidently broke. I wasn't going to bother getting dressed.

I sat at the long table, spinning the chair around in circles as I attempted to keep my eyes open. It wasn't the fact that I had only gotten five hours of sleep that was bad, it was the fact that the entire night I had been up training.

My act of staying up failed miserably as my chair came to a stop, I nodded off.

The smell of a cigar is what woke me. My noise crinkled in disgust. I hated that smell. I heard a loud yell of pain and my eyes cracked open. The red monkey stood there shaking his hand in the air in pain. Lightly glowing ambers coated the desk and his hand.

"Hn?"

"I'm going to rip her throat out!" He yelled, making a lung for me. I let out a squeal and rolled out of the chair and under the table.

"She didn't mean to, Red! Just calm down!" Liz's voice range out.

"What'd I do!?" I yelped when he reached under the table for me and darted out. I stood on the other side of the table from him, my eyes filled with confusion.

"You blew up my cigar!" He yelled.

"…I did?"

"Yes!"

"…Whoops. Sorry." I mumbled. He grumbled to himself and walked out.

I remained silent for a moment and looked at Liz who was sitting, swirling the water in her glass. "How did you learn it?" I asked suddenly. She paused and looked up at me. "How did you learn to control your… power?"

She smiled a little. "It took time." She stood and patted me on the shoulder. "You'll get it eventually."

I was just about to slam my head down in exasperation, but a noise stopped me. The alarm. I looked up at the blinking device with utter hatred. "You're gonna make me go out in daylight, aren't ya?" I muttered to it.

"Safiya! Liz! Come on!" Officer Meyers opened the door and waved us towards him.

What a perfect day.

_A/N: Hi there! I know this is terribly written but hey, I'm bored! And I'm serious, if you give me hate mail, I will kill you. So anyways, here ya go. I dunno if I'll continue this one but hey it's a good pastime. Seeya._

_-Kawai._


	3. Brief Encounter

Between the Shadows

Brief Encounter

I really didn't want to be there. Same as always, the four of us sat in the back of the large, disguised garbage truck. We had been driving for days.

I sat subtly beside Liz who was being unusually quiet as she watched her boyfriend pace around the small perimeter of the truck. Abe stood silently in the corner, studying the weapons that Hellboy carries as if it was his first time seeing them.

My eyes closed subconsciously, not for sleep but to try and meditate. Meditation worked for keeping me focused, most of the time. I groaned slightly and pulled the gloves I was already wearing tighter onto my hands.

Hellboy paid no attention to me and started to loud the belt he wore up with his little "toys". I opened one of my eyes and stared at him as he did that.

He must have noticed because he snarled, "What are you lookin' at?"

I shrugged and shut my eyes again.

When we finally arrived on-scene there was definitely and odd aurora in this place. We went in the back as usual; a giant red monkey and a walking fish weren't exactly the most subtle things on the planet. Liz and I were the only normal looking ones, but even we had our own weird quirks.

I studied the building with interest, looking up at the ceiling. "Uh guys, where are we?" I mumbled.

"The White House. I believe the President of the United States is housed here." Abe spoke in his usual mixed tone of interest and reciting.

"Huh. The White House. Maybe I'll get a snow globe." Hellboy slung his huge gun over his shoulder and walked further into the building.

"Hi, I'm glad you cou—Oh my God." A very proper looking lady stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Abe and Hellboy who paid no attention to her.

"I'm Agent Meyers; it's nice to meet you." His manners never faltered. I rolled my eyes and went back to studying the ceiling.

"Ah, yes. Tammy Bartholf, nice to meet you." She shook his hand quickly, but her eyes never left Hellboy. We began to follow her down one of the hallways.

"So what exactly are we dealing with?" Liz asked, glancing around for a second.

Tammy seemed to pause for a moment before continuing down another hall. "I'm not entirely sure what it is. But it's… huge."

"Huge… Yeah, that narrows it down." Hellboy said sarcastically.

"Well, I didn't get a good look at it, sorry. It came out of nowhere, literally. It just appeared in the oval office from God knows where."

"God's got nothing to do with it lady." The Red Monkey muttered, all too experienced.

"On the contrary, many things we've dealt with have had some religious significance." Abe stated.

He gave a short, slightly amused laugh and the rest of the walk was quiet.

I was perfectly intrigued that someone could live in this big of a place and be okay with it. This place was huge! But of course, it was no comparison to the underground chambers back at the Bureau. I had gotten lost in those many, many times.

My attention was snatched back to reality quickly, as soon as I almost ran into Liz. We had stopped, at what I supposed used to be a door but was now completely missing. My eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Well… any thoughts?" I asked, breaking the silence as we stepped down into the exposed space.

"Fire." Abe stated, pointing his webbed hand at the scorch marks on the walls and … what was left of the ceiling.

"Good!" I called. "We have fire, what now?" There was silence as we searched the room, pushing over things that had fallen out of place.

My mouth twitched to the side of what I saw after I pushed a desk to the side. "Hey guys." I said, and the rustling behind me stopped. "Think I got something here."

I was referring to the black, bug like thing that was hissing at me. It was the size of a cat and I backed away a little, glancing at it.

I heard Meyers pause before saying clearly, "We need it alive for research."

"I'm not gonna kill it." Hellboy replied casually.

The bug like thing finally lost it and let out a loud screech. It climbed halfway up the wall before turning back and jumping towards Abe. He seemed slightly startled by this.

I brought my hand forward quickly. The bug dropped into two clean cut slices before Abe. He stared at it with interest.

"She is." Hellboy finished, raising an eyebrow.

_A/N: Yep, I write too much. Shut up. Anyways, I have no idea why people like this, it's kind of horribly written… I usually don't write like this but now I have to deal with like five characters who all talk and it's just not easy to describe the surroundings. Anyways, I hope these next few chapters turn out better than the first one! Review please, you'll get the next chapter faster!_

_-Kawai_


	4. Delayed Practice

Between the Shadows

Delayed Practice

I had the sensation of falling around me, though I knew I was completely still. The ache in the back of my knees sent tingles up my legs. The bar was cold against them. I opened my eyes and looked at the now upside down world.

My head immediately throbbed. "Okay, ow." I said and flipped down from the bar. I shook my head and my hair fell back into its normal place. I rubbed my forehead. "Stupid upside down… ness." I muttered childishly.

"You were the one who chose to hang like that." Abe stated, flipping the page in a book. The strange outfit that he wore made him look like he had no neck, but he had to wear it to be able to breathe. I shrugged.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." I mumbled and held my hand out in front of me. I pointed my index finger at a rock and lifted it slowly off the ground. I made it swirl around in the air and watched it as it did so. My dark eyes were wide, but my mouth was held in a tight line.

I put my hand down and just held it there with my mind. I felt it was too quiet, and glanced over towards Abe without moving my head.

He was staring at me, his big eyes blinked once.

"What?" I asked harshly, snapping my head toward him. The rock hit the wall beside his head. He barely flinched.

"I was going to say that you seem to be getting more control." He said quietly. I heard a loud snort from the door.

I glanced over to Hellboy who stood there, smoking as usual.

My eyes narrowed slightly. "Shut up, monkey. You just be glad my mind doesn't squeeze that stupid head of yours until it explodes." I hissed, imagining what that would be like and shaking my head in disgust.

He growled but Liz interrupted him before he could retort. "Seriously you two. Can you at least _try_ to get along?"

I grumbled and crossed my arms facing away from him. Apparently, he had done something similar because Liz laughed.

"You two are more alike than you think."

"We are not!" We yelled in unison. We glared at each other for a second before Liz just broke out laughing and even Abe chuckled at out immaturity.

-

Officer Meyers barged into the room after that. The room was hidden, on the outskirts of DC. I was pretty sure the entire building was abandoned.

"Come on." He stated and led us out

-

Less than an hour later we stood in front of a large, grey building. I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I'll bite. What are we doing here?" Liz asked.

"This is where sightings of those fire bugs were seen. We want to check it out just to see if we can find where they're coming from.

We entered the loaming doors without a word, our footsteps echoed throughout the entire building. I looked around, the place we were in resembled a hospital.

My mind flashed and I held my forehead. "You okay?" Liz asked quietly.

"Fine." I nodded and continued down the hall. My head was throbbing in pain.

I groaned out loud, but this wasn't in annoyance, it was in pain and frustration. I fell against Liz and she struggled to support my weight. "Safiya! What's wrong?"

I stood up with much trouble and walked forward. I turned back to them, in silence. My pupils had expanded to turn my eyes completely black. "Something's… wrong. Very wrong." I mumbled and looked around the building.

We heard a scurrying noise and a loud number of hissing noises. Everyone looked around the hallway in surprise.

The noise stopped and I took another few steps forward. Someone followed me but I didn't bother checking who.

"Well, it stopped…" Meyers said.

There was a loud screeching noise and I had to clamp my hands over my ears in attempts to drown it out. I wasn't the only one. The entire group stood with her hands firmly clamped over their ears.

I turned back to the group and my eyes widened. There were bugs. Thousands of them, all different sizes, running down the hall from where we entered.

I almost screamed, but I forgot how. Hellboy yelled something and I stood there with my eyes wide, not comprehending. He grabbed my wrist and screamed in my ear, "Run! You idiot, run!" And I did what I was told.

The group had gotten a head start on us, and we were losing view of them. They got further ahead of us and we turned down a hallway. I didn't see them, but I didn't care by that point. My only thought was to get away.

A burning smell filled my nostrils, but it wasn't tobacco. I was about to turn another corner when a large red hand wrapped around my wrist and yanked me into a room. He shut the door and stood against it, staying completely silent.

On the meantime, I sat on the floor, attempting to catch my breath silently. I heard the screeching noise slowly deafen to nothingness and I let out a large gasp, finally getting air into my lungs.

"Okay! What the hell are those things!?" I said after a moment, still gasping after running that much.

He still stood by the door, his head turned to look out the small window on the door. "I don't know. But what I do know is that we need to find the others. Now." He said gruffly.

I simply nodded in response.

-

The silence was unbearably uncomfortable. I walked, my arms crossed over my chest. My senses had returned to normal, my eyes back to their original darkness but now you could actually see the white in them. I walked calmly with little expression, though it had finally hit me that I was stuck with the Red Monkey until we found the others. I just wished he wasn't so freaking arrogant.

He was silent as well, the only noise was his loud footsteps and every now and then he'd let out a short snarl. Apparently, he wasn't too happy either.

But the thing that was probably bothering us the most was the fact that we had been walking for the past 20 minutes, and every freaking hallway in this hospital place looks the exact same!

I was about to groan but Hellboy cut me off with an annoyed snarl. "We're going in circles." He hissed.

"Really now? I hadn't noticed." I said sarcastically.

He let out a sort of growling noise as a response. "Can't you like… feel their presence or something?"

I glanced at him; one of my eyebrows was raised. "I can feel them. They're in the building, but…" I paused, looking down sharply.

"But?" He said gruffly.

"I can't pinpoint them. Something's interfering. Dunno…" I muttered.

"God, you are so useless." He muttered and my head shot up.

I stopped dead in tracks and whipped around to face him. "Hey! I'm trying my fucking best here! We're lost in some weird-ass hospital, invaded with bugs that tend to catch things on fire and looking for our lost friends. Now, if I say I can't pinpoint them, deal with it! I sure as hell don't see you doing anything better!"

His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to retort when he was cut off. A scream. It pierced the silence of the hospital, echoing through the halls. "Liz…" He said.

He bolted down the hall. "Hey!" I yelled and raced after him. He was way too fast for someone that big. My legs felt like sand bags as I ran after him.

There was a loud crashing noise, and before I could react, I was falling.

The landing came as quickly as the fall. I smashed against the ground and groaned painfully, twisting my arm out from underneath me.

"What…the hell…just happened?" I groaned and attempted to sit up. Pain shocked through my shoulders. "OW!" I hissed and stayed still for a moment. I struggled again, but this time I was able to prop myself up on the wall.

I hushed and the darkness was almost scary. I blinked a couple times. "Uh… Hellboy?" I muttered. "Hello?" I attempted to stand, but stopped when I winced from the pain. "Seriously, stupid monkey. Where are you?" I muttered, my eyes rolled back into my head and I leaned my head back against the wall.

There was silence. A dripping noise. I wondered where I was, how far I'd fallen. Why the hell the red monkey was quiet the only time I actually wanted him to speak.

The pain was bearable, but I didn't think I could move. I must have landed on my neck from the way I'd fallen. I raised one of my eyebrows and blinked once.

I breathed in and out, slowly… much too slow… and the dripping noise slowed as well…

Slow…

My eyes were closed and I bit down on the inside of my cheek suddenly. I could hear it. A cracking noise. It was rather loud in the dripping silence.

Another loud crack and I gasped for air. "Shit." I hissed, leaning forward slightly. The pain had dulled, it was better now.

I heard a shifting noise and I sat straight up again. "Hello?"

Loud groaning noise and the sounds of rubble being pushed.

"Oy, Monkey, you okay?" I cracked my neck and winced slightly. I had realigned the bone, but it still would take a while to heal properly.

"Would you quit calling me that." He hissed and there was a loud creaking noise.

"It suits you." I muttered.

He groaned again and I heard footsteps. "Where are we?"

"Beats me. We just… fell."

There was a pause and I blinked in the darkness. I could barely make out his huge form. "How long have we been down here?"

At that, I stopped. "Uh… I… really don't know." And it was true. Though I remember getting up and moving to the wall, the groggy feeling I now had was a sign that I had fallen asleep. When… I don't know…

"Perfect." He hissed and moved again, his footsteps heavy on the ground. What I guess was rubble crushed beneath his feet, which made me wonder, what exactly made us fall?

After a very long moment of silence I mumbled, "You never answered my question."

"Hn?"

"Are. You. Okay?"

There was a long pause. "Fine." He said gruffly.

"Doubt that."

"Can't you just like, lift me out of here or something?" He snapped at me.

"You think it's EASY to life an almost 300 pound demon to god knows how high in the air to get you out!?" I almost screeched at him.

Another long silence.

"Stupid kid." He muttered.

I fumed. I hated it when he referred to me as 'kid'. I hated being called young. I hissed out loud and I heard a deep chuckle.

"Shut up you stupid monkey." I muttered and crossed my arms over my chest. I winced slightly and for some odd reason, let out a whimper. I immediately scolded myself for showing such a stupid weakness in front of the likes of _him_.

"Question time, are _you_ okay?" He asked.

"Fine." I hissed just as harshly as he had. Suddenly he was beside me.

"Now that _I_ doubt." He said. "Come on, where's it hurt?"

I was shocked. He was actually showing concern… for ME.

"Just my stupid shoulder. Think I landed on it when we fell… how long was that fall?" I was trying to get the subject off of me. Some questions lead to other questions, then it's just annoying.

"Did you fix it?"

"Huh?" I glanced at where his voice was coming from, directly beside me.

"Earlier. You were concentrating on something. The water stopped dripping." He explained.

"You were conscious?"

"Sort of." He answered shortly.

I paused. "Think I realigned the bone… not much more than that. Might've broken something, I dunno."

"You're bleeding." He said simply.

I glanced at him. "So're you."

I could practically hear him smirk in the darkness.

"We need a light. I can't see a bloody thing." I muttered. I heard a shifting noise and in a moment I knew that the monkey was up, and looking for something.

A small light appeared, and I immediately recognized the lighter. I sighed for a second and picked up my arm, much to my shoulder's protest.

My fingers opened as my palm went towards the small flame. My mind simplified everything once more, as it usually does before my skill is used. The fire was eloped into a ball, it spread and the light illuminated the small chamber we were in. I glanced around.

"Why do I get the feeling that we were put here on purpose?" I mumbled the thought out loud, Hellboy only grunted in response.

My eyes searched the room. There were broken tiles and many pieces of what I supposed were the floor that we fell through.

But when I looked up, expecting to see a hole in the ceiling, I saw just a stone barrier between us and the next floor up. "Uh… what th—."

"Shh!" He hissed suddenly and I shut my mouth. He was at the door, which was in the corner of the room, across from me. His ear was pressed against it.

He stood back with a sigh. "Nothing."

"So… we're stuck here?"

"Not if I can help it." He said, and before I could protest, he smashed his rock hand into the door. It made the loudest noise imaginable.

I groaned suddenly and put my hand up to my ear. My other hand still cradled the flame in a perfect sphere. Apparently, Hellboy hadn't heard my groan.

Another punch.

And another.

And another.

Finally the room darkened again as I let the flame go and held my head. "Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop." I kept muttering to myself, my nails dug into my head.

There was a catching noise in Hellboy's throat. "Safiya." He said suddenly, but I didn't look up. A choking noise, and my head shot up. "Let… me… go…" He hissed, his hands clawed at the air around his neck.

My eyes widened, completely blackened over. "No…" I whispered. I felt myself move, but my soul was weak. I felt heavy, but my body moved with ease. Standing slowly to face him, his eyes were narrowed but it couldn't hide the shock.

I just stared at him, and tilted my head to the side. I blinked once and he gasped for air. He coughed a couple times and I still stood.

"Damn bitch." He hissed at me, but his eyes were not focused on me for the light was gone. That didn't matter anymore. My eyes were adjusted now.

"Oh shut up." I mumbled and threw my arm to the side. The door crinkled under my thoughts and it fell out into the halls.

_A/N: Woooooow. I didn't actually realize how much I'd written in this chapter until I finally finished… Hehe… Any who, Reviews pleeeeeeeeease. You'll get another chapter quicker. Plus, it makes me really happy inside to know that people are actually reading my work… Hehe. So then… I guess that's it…_

_-Kawai_


	5. Among the Normalcy

Between the Shadows

Among the Normalcy

"She tried to kill me!"

"She did not, now give her a break. It's your own damn fault, but you're too stubborn to admit it."

"How is this my fault?!"

"You know that she reacts badly to loud noises!"

"I was just trying to get us out…"

"You could have asked her."

The voices kept speaking. I wanted them to shut up. Please shut up.

"Like she'd actually do something good for once."

I groaned and put my hands down on the cold table. I against the table and opened my eyes. I had been laying on my stomach. I dragged my knees against the table until I let my weight fall and I sat on my knees.

Pain throbbed through my head as I groaned and pushed my hand against my forehead. The pain slowly subsisted.

I could still hear the voice and I glanced around the room. I was in the medical wing, Liz and Hellboy were outside my room. I raised an eyebrow.

When had I fallen asleep?

I remember… falling… down. A long ways. I remember trying to fix a pain… and I remember fire. After that it was a blur. I groaned. I hated it when that happened.

Why I always forgot those important events, I shall never know. I cracked my neck loudly and it echoed in the silent room. I glanced at my watch.

10:49 pm. "Huh." I mumbled, slightly shocked.

"When'd we get back?" I looked around the room and stood up.

"She's fucking dangerous! Who knows what she'd do if a fire alarm went off in a school or something?" He was practically screaming. My head throbbed.

I pulled my the grey shirt over my head and shook out my hair. Glancing around the room, there was no doctor. I shrugged and took that as I was allowed to leave.

The door clattered loudly against the wall as I pushed it open. Liz and Hellboy turned and stared at me.

"What?" I hissed. I wasn't too happy about them talking about me, and especially since they had done such a god-awful job of hiding it.

Liz opened her mouth to speak but I turned sharply and walked down the hall. I needed to change, I had no idea how long I'd be out, nor exactly what happened, but the shirt I was wearing had blood stains on the back.

-

"It's just annoying." I muttered, flipping the page of the book, barely paying attention.

"He's just looking out for the people. You know, he has a point." Abe said, his hands made soft 'thunk' noises as they hit the glass wall separating the water from the office.

"Oh?"

"Well, you know the consequences if you lose control around people."

"You think I don't know that?" I asked, slamming the book shut without touching it. It floated out of my lap and replaced itself on the shelf.

"Seems I struck a nerve… I'm sorry…" He said, moving against the glass.

I sighed quietly. "It's alright." I said.

-Hellboy's POV-

I really couldn't understand how she could stay so calm. My hand went back up to my neck and the memory of her sneaked back into my head. The look in her eyes when stood and stared at me. She was interested, amused even.

I shivered slightly and pushed the memory away once more. I watched her for a moment, as her eyes changed ever so slightly when she used her power.

I leaned against the door frame and tilted my head back. I had wanted to talk to Abe, but she was in the office with him. This girl was… complicated.

Said she could handle herself, then goes and tried to kill me. I don't know what I'm going to do with her.

I shut my eyes for a moment, but they snapped back open at what I saw.

The loose shirt she wore exposed the top of her back, but when she got up it moved. Her getting up looked as if someone had just shoved her lower back off the ground. Therefore she looked as if she had leapt in the air, and gracefully and silently landed on her feet.

Her shirt moved to the side in this process. What was revealed was a long scar, that didn't bother me. I remember when she had gotten that scar.

It was where the scar didn't touch. The scar went from the back of her right rib cage, across her upper back and stopped at her left shoulder.

But there was a space… where the scar stopped, and then restarted.

A circle on her left shoulder blade. A design was entwined in it, but I couldn't make it out from this far.

It wasn't the same shade as the scar on her back though. This was darker, not light like scars usually are on dark skin. My eyes narrowed slightly.

A branding. That's what was on her shoulder. She turned and ran her hands along the covers of the books.

"Hey, Safiya?" Liz said, leaning against the entrance to the office. I scooted a little further out of the room.

"Hm?"

"Can you fly? I mean, you look like you can from the way you just jumped up like that." She asked, leaning against the desk.

She paused and her eyes narrowed slightly in thought. "I dunno… never really tried it before." She mumbled.

I scoffed suddenly, and both Liz and Safiya turned to look at me. I took a long drag of the cigar and glanced at them. "What?"

"What's your problem?" Safiya asked, crossing her arms.

"You. Flying. Imagine how much of a nightmare that would be." I laughed at my own joke and she just glared.

"Oh shut up. Like you'd do any better." She muttered.

"Wanna bet?" I shot.

"I would, but you can't fly." She said, smugly.

I didn't say anything; instead I just stood there and blew smoke into the room. Abe looked from one person to the other, kind of surprised.

"I really have wondered, why do you two hate each other so?"

"I don't hate him." She said before I could say anything. "He just has something against me."

I looked at her strange. I still didn't buy it. I didn't buy that stupid act that she was putting on, the fake smiles and "forgotten past".

I blew the smoke out incredibly slow, "Safiya… How'd you get that branding… on your shoulder?"

She stopped and turned, very slowly, and looked at me with confused eyes. "How… did you see it?" She asked, Safiya's eyes were wide.

"You're not that amazing at hiding it." I muttered.

She stared at me, and suddenly backed into the bookcase. Her hand went up to her forehead and she smashed into the books.

Abe looked back between me and her. I shrugged at him.

"Safiya?" Liz asked, putting her hand on her shoulder.

She shook her off and turned around swiftly, walking out of the office.

"Damn girl." I hissed.

-Safiya's POV-

Amazing, that's how it felt. The wind that passed through my long hair, the damp air that was heavy around me. I smiled, I loved it.

The circle of rocks that spun around my body made a whirling noise.

The rocks all clattered loudly against the ground as my concentration was broken. "What do you want?" I hissed, opening my eyes.

I looked down at the concrete stories beneath my feet. My legs were crossed and I leaned my elbows against my knees, leaning over the edge of the building.

"Just wanted to talk." His gruff voice pierced the night air.

"About?" I retorted, my mouth twitching slightly.

"You." He said and I felt a presence next to me. I glanced over to him, and for once he wasn't smoking one of his millions of cigars.

"And why on earth would you want to talk about me?" I asked, leaning back and stretching my legs out over the ledge.

"Because I know you're faking it." I stopped in mid-stretch. My head turned and looked at him.

"What on earth are you talking about, Monkey?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You know who you are, you know where you got that branding, and you know why I will never get along with you." He stated, turning his head to look at me.

I stared at him for a short period of time, before chuckling gently. "You don't get it… do you?" I whispered, opening my eyes widely. "I want to forget who I am. I want to get rid of that past… and I am sorry for what I've done, but I do not want to go back to what I was. I'm happy here… for the first time in a very long time…"

I stared up at the stars, smiling a little. The breeze was gentle and cool, autumn was just around the corner and the leaves were beginning to rot.

"You have no idea how selfish you really are. You realize they are going to find out eventually? One way or another." He said, looking down at me.

I groaned slightly, and was about to retort when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I practically jumped off the ledge, but my hands clamped down onto the building.

"W-what a-a-are you d-doing?" I hissed, goose bumps rising all over my skin at the touch of another person. He dragged his hand along the scar on my back. "_Damn, I knew I shouldn't have bought this stupid top._" I cursed myself silently.

"Looking at something." He muttered. His hand danced over my shoulder blade and soon enough he moved the edge of my shirt over. I shivered silently when he pushed my hair back and stared at the branding.

"Who gave you this? Why?" He asked.

My eyes were almost shut. "The person who created me. They wanted to make sure that I would never leave them." I said.

He traced it with his hand. "And who might that be?" He traced the hatchet in the top right corner of the branding.

At that moment, I pushed myself forward and slid off the ledge. "Safiya!" He yelled suddenly, looking over the edge.

I hated the feeling of flight, the weightlessness. It made me feel so insignificant, like I was falling through nothingness, it was why I never did fly.

I stared at him, my eyes narrowed slightly, my body floating in midair beside the building. "Don't touch me." I hissed, glaring at him. "You know the consequences of pissing me off; don't make me teach you another lesson after what happened last time. I'm trying really freaking hard here to change, don't ruin this for me." I put my right hand on his head and flipped my body over, doing a complete flip in midair and landing on my feet on the roof.

_A/N: Hehehehe… I overly complicate my characters. I love it. Anyways, reviews are really appreciated, and I love that so many people are actually reading this! So then, I'll get the next chapter to you quickly, because I really feel like writing this… hehe. _

_So review! Please and thank you!_

_-Kawai_


	6. Can You See Me?

Between the Shadows

Can You See Me?

"Evening Safiya. How are you this lovely night?" One of the guards asked, tipping his hat to me as I walked by.

"I'm alright… kind of tired though. Think I'll call it a night." I mumbled. I glanced at my watch, it was barely past midnight. This would be the earliest I went to bed in a very long time.

The door shut loudly behind me, the noise was deafening. I yawned silently and walked into my bathroom. The shower began to warm up and I turned to the full length mirror that I had yet to figure out why I owned.

My hair was tangled and unruly. I quickly undid the blue sports watch around my wrist and glanced at the date. I cocked my head in surprise.

September twenty fourth. The time had really gone away, the heat of summer felt so familiar. I tossed my watched to the side; it landed on the sink, but didn't fall in.

I pulled my shirt over my head quickly and shook my hair out, scratching the side of my head. I glanced at myself in the mirror and my lips pursed slightly.

"Tch." I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

-

Silent darkness, how it comforted me so. It felt nice to finally be back in my room as I laid on my back, staring up at my ceiling. I yawned and closed my eyes.

The sound of gears turning is what snapped me out of my peaceful, half-slumber. I groaned, trying to ignore the sound of the door open, the slowly shut again.

"Go. Away." I groaned and threw a pillow at where I supposed the intruder was. I heard the soft thump as it hit the ground.

One of my eyes cracked open ever so slightly and adjusted slightly to my dark room. I couldn't see where anything was, it was too dark.

"Whoever you are, you'd better get out in the next five seconds because it is way too late for this." I muttered into the darkness. Something shifted, I could hear, but it fell silent after a moment.

I laid back with a 'huff', I was exhausted. "I really don't want to deal with this right now, so please get out?" I pleaded with the mysterious figure.

There was still no answer, I finally got annoyed enough to push my back off the comforting warmth of my bed and sat up straight. I pointed my hand out in front of me and flicked my index finger up. The light switch across the room followed.

My room of computers, books and various rubber balls became illuminated. I blinked a couple times in the sudden light, but the light suddenly switched out again, not by my power.

"Hey! Seriously, who the hell is there?" My bed creaked and my heard practically jumped out of my chest.

Something was in front of me, watching me. I blinked once, surprised. In a swift movement, I was pinned against the bed, a tremendous weight holding me down.

To tell the truth, I was terrified. I wanted to send whoever was on top of me across the room in one thought, but something was stopping me.

Something was disrupting my thoughts.

"W-who are y-you?" I whispered into the darkness.

The first sign of verbal contact was finally reached when they chuckled. Male, older, amused. That's what I concluded.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten me already?" The familiar voice pierced the night air like a knife.

My eyes widened slightly, a gasp escaping my lips. "Get off me." I hissed once my mind finally began to process what was happening.

There was the chuckle again; I wanted to clamp my hands over my ears from the sound of it. In a second, I was on my back, my face buried in my bed.

A cold sensation moved in a line from the bottom of my lower back, all the way up my spine until it reached my neck. I shivered and clutched the pillow underneath me.

My shredded shirt was moved away until my back was completely exposed.

"Ahhh, there it is." My eyes squeezed shut. I hated this, I hated how I couldn't move against him, how I couldn't say anything.

The cold traced my left shoulder, the branding. I shivered once again. "I've come to reclaim you, you know that you shouldn't have left me like that." He whispered cruelly. I wanted to kill him, I wanted to throw him across the room.

It was useless. In a second, I was flipped onto my back, staring up at the cruel eyes that were all too familiar. My room had turned unnaturally freezing, and was brisk against my now naked torso. Too cold…

I stared up at the face for another second before I finally did what all humans do in this situation. I screamed. All the breath in my lungs was let out in the loudest, most high pitched scream I had ever done.

And thank god, it was heard. I heard the guards yelling something and the gears being turned quickly. But what I didn't expect was that someone else had joined the guards in my rescue.

The door smashed open quickly, faster than I could ever pull it open. He was gone within seconds, but he had seen him. I chocked slightly and my body curled up into a ball. I was shivering relentlessly.

My eyes opened ever so slightly to look at the giant red figure that stood next to my bed. My eyes squeezed shut once more and I rubbed my upper arms in attempts to warm up. It was so cold in my room… too cold…

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" I kept muttering my apology over and over again. I felt my blanket on top of my once more and some footsteps. I didn't want to be alone. I whimpered slightly, my arm snaking across the mattress slowly, reaching out for someone, _anyone_.

I hadn't felt that weak, that vulnerable since I had gotten to the Bureau. But I was so cold… so scared… What if he returned? What would he do to me?

My arm laid still as I finally gave up on finding anyone. The light in my room was still on from when the guards intruded. I was shivering and I pulled my arm back around myself.

I muttered another apology.

I felt myself being pulled up, and I clutched to my blanket like it would protect me.

"Quit apologizing." He said gruffly. My stomach clenched suddenly, as realization came to me. Hellboy, the guy I had just gotten in a fight with a few hours before, the demon who hated me with unending fury, was seeing me in this weak state.

"P-put me down!" I yelped suddenly, trying to will myself away from the heat source, but my body wouldn't have it. I stayed close to his chest, huddling in the warmth.

"Not gonna happen." He muttered. I had no idea where we were going, nor did I have the power to open my eyes to find out.

"…I hope you don't expect to get answers for helping me." I said after a moment.

I could practically hear him smirk. "Ungrateful bitch."

"Shut up."

-Hellboy's POV-

I couldn't help but smirk at her stubborn attitude. Usually I would have just left her there in the hands of the guards, but she said something. In the middle of mumbling her apologies, she said something that caught my attention,

"It burns, Father…"

That's what she said. I supposed that if I stayed with her long enough, her delusional state would give me some answers to who this girl was.

But what I didn't expect her to be this cold. Even against my unnaturally high temperature, she was freezing. She shivered every few moments.

When we finally reached my room, the guard gave me a funny look but I didn't feel the need to explain myself to him.

I set her down on my bed and the cats in my room began to explore the foreign person. Her nose twitched slightly and she turned her head over.

I turned to give her space, but something stopped me. I glanced at her, she held the bottom of my shirt. I tugged at her hand, but she had an iron grip, even in sleep.

I sighed.

-

-Back in Safiya's POV-

There was definitely a presence where I slept. But I wasn't scared, not of this one. This was warm, not freezing. I groaned slightly and readjusted my head against what I was laying on. It was warm and smooth, but it felt almost rock like.

There was something soft on my lower back. It tickled slightly, and at that moment I realized I wasn't wearing a shirt. My eyes cracked open slowly.

I was facing someone…

My eyes opened so widely, I'm surprised they didn't fall straight out of my head.

I scrambled, trying to get out of his bed, while covering my chest. The cat that was lying on my lower back let out a loud yelp and I froze.

Hellboy stirred and opened one of his eyes.

I fell off the bed.

I wrapped my arms firmly over my chest and glared up at him. I was wearing nothing but a pair of black shorts. "Why the hell?!" I screamed at him.

He stared at me shortly, but then turned his back to me. "You didn't want to be alone last night. So I brought you back here."

"You brought me to YOUR room!? Why the hell did you do that?" I screamed at him. He tossed a black shirt towards me that was many sizes too big, but I hurriedly pulled it over my head.

He did nothing but shrug, and I glared at him.

Honestly, I had no idea what came over me. "Thanks." I muttered and looked away.

He seemed a bit surprised by this, and stared at her. "Don't mention it." He said finally.

There was a very long, awkward silence.

"Did you find out what you wanted?" I asked after a moment.

Hellboy looked at me funny. "Don't think I can't remember ALL of what happened last night." I said smugly. "I know you only took me in because you thought I'd speak about myself. Did I?"

The bed creaked as he stood up and walked across the room. He turned back to me briefly and growled, "I will find out who you are."

I smirked ever so slightly at this, but silently I thanked god that I didn't let anything slip. That would be too… troublesome.

The door swung open slowly and Agent Meyers stepped through the door. "Good morning Hellboy." I didn't care if he saw me here, he wouldn't think anything.

But the person who followed, however, I had my doubts. "Hey Red, why are you in bed this…" Liz stopped in mid sentence when she saw me sitting on Hellboy's bed in his shirt, that covered the shorts I wore.

She stared with bulging eyes.

"…Well this isn't suggestive at all…" I mumbled.

_A/N: Yeah, this was kind of a weird chapter… The next one will be better._

_Lil spoiler: SOMEONE DIES! It might not be in the next chapter, but someone will die in the near future._

_I'm not telling you whoooooooo. HAHAHAHA_

_Okay, weird moment over, anyways I'm going to go see the new Hellboy II movie coming out …today! But I'll probably go see it next weekend, I'm so happy! It's by the same director of Pan's Labyrinth! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!_

_So anyways, review please and thank you!_

_-Kawai_


	7. Split Apology

Between the Shadows

Split apology

Liz's reaction was not exactly… joyful. First she looked confused. Then she looked really pissed. Then she shook her head and left.

Hellboy ran after her, so it was just me and Meyers. "…I'm just gonna… go now…" I mumbled and slid soundlessly off the bed.

Firstly, I went to my room to change out of his shirt, because that was way too suggestive. I stared at myself in the mirror for a split second and I took a deep breath.

This was going to be hell. How was I going to explain to my best friend why I was sleeping in the same bed as her boyfriend? Wearing his shirt?

I groaned and slammed my head against the wall.

"I screwed up big time, didn't I?" I mumbled to myself, holding my head against the wall.

The door of my room opened and I glanced towards the opening.

"Safiya. We have some trouble…" Meyers said and I nodded.

-

Stepping out of the truck I let out a short sigh. "That wasn't awkward at all." I hissed at Meyers and he just looked at me, slightly confused. I glared.

Liz crossed her arms over her chest and walked into the building without even figuring out what we were looking for, I groaned slightly and trudged after her.

She wouldn't even look at me anymore, and after half the ride of her and Hellboy bickering over whose fault it was, she stopped talking to both of us.

"I seriously hate you right now." I muttered to him. He looked surprised.

"Me?! Why are you mad at me!?"

"Because; if it weren't for your stupid idea that I needed to sleep in _your_ bed last night, we wouldn't be in this mess!" I hissed.

I sped up my pace and soon was deep inside the unfamiliar building. I could feel Liz's presence only a couple yards in front of me, but Hellboy was trailing behind us, probably sulking.

"Hn. Hey Meyers!" I yelled down the hall, he turned. "I don't think anything's here. You sure this is the right place?"

He nodded quickly and then went back to speaking to the soldiers with us. I rolled my eyes subconsciously and continued down the hall.

I glanced at Liz who was walking down the right side of the fork in the hall, I shrugged and went down the left. I didn't feel like dealing with this right now, in fact I wanted nothing more but to sleep. The walls were bare, but somehow the entire area was trashed. As if there was some giant explosion that no one noticed. I glanced down as I stepped carefully over some rubble and saw the all too familiar scorched marks. I looked back down the hall and saw no one was following me, I made an odd 'tch' noise with my tongue and looked down to my tracker, it was on.

With a quick toss of my hair I went further down the hallway. My footsteps were so loud in the immediate silence. There was a light coming from somewhere, but honestly I couldn't tell where. I blinked once and stopped, my footsteps stopped with me.

Noise… not my own.

It was near me in the least, it was quite distant, but yes, I could hear it.

It was someone… and if they were making that much noise, something was wrong. I closed my eyes and stayed still. Hellboy was near Liz and she was moving… but still not.

I ran.

-

The fire was everywhere, dancing along the walls and teasing the ceiling. The smell was horribly strong, and the smoke was so thick I had to push past it with my mind to see clearly. And even then, my eyes watered.

"Liz!" I shouted out in the war of smoke and fire, the heat almost completely unbearable. I muttered some odd nonsense to myself as I pushed further, trying to find my friend.

"Safiya? What are you doing?" Came a voice beside me, it was Hellboy. No surprise that he was here.

"Where is she? What's she doing?"

"Move!" He shouted and pushed me over onto the ground. His gun fired off twice and I winced at the loud noise. He relaxed his arm and looked down at me.

"She's taking care of some of the bugs." He stated simply.

"You found them?"

He scoffed shortly, and I glared as I realized how obvious that answer was.

I coughed a couple times from the smoke, and stood back up, brushing my shoulder off. I glanced down the hall. "Where is she?"

He turned and walked down the hall, I followed.

The scene we came upon was almost scary, the fire that twirled around the air. The dark haired woman in the middle was radiating fire that seemed to grow every second.

I stared at her, even though I had seen her do this many times, it still amazed me. She was so precise with her movements, it was almost artistic. Scratch that, it WAS artistic.

Hellboy watched her with the same fascination, but a different glint was in his eye.

I gasped and choked slightly, coughing up the smoke. "Door!" I gasped and pointed to where we had entered. The door was closed and for the first time I realized we were in a vault like area. The bugs seemed to me coming out of nowhere.

"The air's cut off!" I hissed, trying to breath normally in the sea of smoke. "With this much fire, the oxygen's going to disappear in at matter of minutes!" I yelled at him, and his eyes widened ever so slightly. "We have to stop her!"

"Liz!" He yelled. She was either ignoring him, or she couldn't hear him over the loud screeching noise coming from the bugs. I yelped slightly when I noticed how vulnerable I was.

I waved my hand through the air once and sent a couple into the wall. I gasped for air, this was hard. But Hellboy seemed to literally have no problem. I noticed something, Liz's fire was dying.

"Shit." I hissed, placing my hand over my throat.

Hellboy finally acted, I had no idea what he was waiting for. He ran up to Liz and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly. "Liz, cut it out! You're taking all the air."

She looked at him for a moment before sneering and pushing him away. Her fire grew slightly but the lack of oxygen caused it to die back down.

Realization seemed to come to her as she gasped for breath and collapsed to the ground. The last of the fire died down, and I was happy to see that the bugs had retreated.

Liz mocked my position and her hand went up to her throat.

"Liz!" He yelled, picking her up. He turned to the door, but he knew he couldn't open it with her in his arms. She choked shortly. He looked at me. "Open it!"

As the last of the oxygen was lost my vision became blurred and I finally and reluctantly gave up. A sneer came on my face and I stood, cracking my neck slightly.

I crossed my arms over my chest, but I felt so light headed. My chest no longer rose and fell with the movements of breathing.

"Open the fucking door"! He pressed again, his voice was gruff but his eyes were pleading. Liz choked again and the light started to ease from her eyes.

I leaned my shoulder against the wall, smirking at him.

"No."

_A/N: DON'T KILL ME, DON'T KILL ME, DON'T KILL ME! Sorry but a lot of people will probably be mad that I killed her off… Heh… sorry about that. But hell, it made a good twist!_

_So then, reviews are nice, you also get a new chapter. So I think it's a pretty sweet deal. Reviews equal new chapter faster!_

_Please and thank you!_

_-Kawai_


	8. Inevitability

Between the Shadows

Inevitability

-Hellboy's POV-

I stayed in my room for I don't know how long. Meyers tried to make me come outside, but I didn't even respond to what he said. I wanted to kill her; I wanted to wring her neck for what she did. That look that she gave me, the smirk. Liz's death was amusing to her.

"Come on, you've got to get out of here sometime." Meyers pushed for the millionth time.

I did nothing but glare at him.

He sighed and shook his head. "Even Safiya is cooping better than you."

I slammed my fist down on the table. "That's because she kill her!"

"She did not! When we got there she was unconscious from the lack of oxygen, she just has bigger lungs than Liz, she was able to hold her breath." He argued.

"You weren't _there_. You didn't see what she did. I'm telling you, she did it on purpose." I hissed.

He sighed. "Just try to get out, Hellboy. Liz wouldn't want you in here, wallowing in self pity." Meyers got up and exited my room.

"Damn." I muttered.

-

-Safiya's POV-

Whirling…. It was such a comforting noise. This was different than the sounds of the whirling than the stones on the roof. There were four orbs. All of them a different substance. Fire, burning endlessly in one, water swirling around in another, a plant growing slowly, yet steadily in the other, and what looked like a small tornado in another. The elements balanced each other as they spun around, clock-wise around the room. I sat in the middle, my eyes closed and legs crossed.

I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

Something was wrong.

My eyes snapped open only seconds before the fist came into my stomach, sending my flying into the wall. The elements fell to the ground as my concentration was broken.

I coughed a couple times. "What the hell, Red!?" I screamed at him.

"Oh get up." He hissed. I stood up, leaning my weight against the wall. My fingers danced along my stomach, feeling the broken ribs.

He sneered. "You did nothing, nothing at all. You didn't even try to help her, not in the least."

I couldn't argue, after all he was right. I faintly remembered what happened… I stood and did absolutely nothing… I watched her die, then I blacked out.

The rock fist came crashing over my cheek bone, slamming my head to the side and my neck made a painful cracking noise. I gasped out and fell against the ground again.

My mind worked quick to fix the essential bones in my neck, but it wasn't long before his hand came around my think arm and slammed me across the room. I laid limp, my mind analyzing my body, fixing the bones and making sure none of the spare pieces got into my blood system.

I gasped out as he hoisted me in the air by my neck, my back pressed against the wall.

His eyes glared at me, it was intense. All the air in my lungs was being used quickly as I tried to hold my breath. He pushed my deeper into the wall and my hands went up to his wrist as I tried to pry him away from me.

Yes, it would be quite simple for me to just throw him clean across the room and run my ass out of there, but he needed this. He needed "revenge".

Finally the pressure released and I tumbled to the ground once more, landing on my wrist and bending it backwards. I gasped out in pain and anticipation. I was waiting for another blow, but it never came.

My eyes slid open to face his back. "Get out." He said simply.

Struggling to move, I stood and exited the training room as quickly as I could. Tumbling down the halls I searched to recognize where I was going. I stopped and breathed deeply.

My bones had realigned themselves, so why was I still breathing hard?

My answer came in the form of one word: Fear.

-

I realized that day that the majority of my wardrobe was black. That was probably not a good sign but at the moment, I couldn't care less. I pushed as many clothes as I could into the duffle bag. I snatched up a second back and stuffed my three laptops and all of my guns into it before covering it them with black clothing as well.

I unhooked the belt from around my waist and stared at it for a moment. The red buckle shun in the dim lighting of my room. I sighed shortly and placed it on my bed.

I pulled my hoodie over my head and tied my hair back, though most of it remained in my face. The hood hid my eyes, though I could see fine. I grabbed the bags and rushed out of the room, avoiding the gaze of any on lookers. In a place as strange as this, aliens were normal, a runaway was strange.

I stuffed the bags into the back of the red car, and hopped into the driver's seat. That day I left The Bureau for Supernatural Research and Defense.

-

-Hellboy's POV-

The door smashed open loudly and I sighed. This ought to be good. "She's gone." Manning said impatiently. He stood with his arms crossed, in one hand he held the belt that Safiya wore just hours ago. I blew the smoke out slowly.

"Seriously?"

"Yes! What do you expect to do about this, we don't have another telepath as strong as her!"

"Ah, I can handle it." I said, waving my hand at him nonchalantly.

Manning droned on about how she was a valuable addition to the team, and with Liz gone they needed to keep their members. I rolled my eyes and blew the cigar smoke out.

I hated her, and I was perfectly glad she was gone.

"Are you listening to me?" Manning demanded.

"Nope." I stated and stood up, walking out of the room to leave him steaming. I had to talk to Abe.

-

"She's gone?" Abe asked, blinking in surprise. He sat outside his tank that day, reading in one of the chairs.

"Yep." I stated.

"What did you do?" He asked skeptically.

"I just told her what I thought." I demanded

"You… _told_ her?" Abe said.

"Okay, so I talk with my fists, big deal."

There was a pause of silence. "So you beat her up, to avenge your dead girlfriend because you believe she is responsible? When perhaps she was one of the only people willing to help you?"

"When you put it like that…"

"How would you put it?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

I sighed, "Shut up Abe." I stated, sitting down across from him heavily.

Another long pause of silence. The only sound was the sounds to pages flipping.

"So, you're not going after her?" He asked.

"Hell no."

-

-Safiya's POV-

Flip, flip, flip, flip.

The glass spun in midair as I stared at it intently. The apartment was unusually quiet, I wasn't used to the silence of a room. Rain pattered on the windows loudly, taxis screeched loudly outside the windows. I sighed shortly.

I was bored. Incredibly bored. I never thought that I'd actually miss Hellboy of all the people in the world.

I held my head and the glass landed silently on the table. "Oh Safiya… you idiot." I whispered to myself.

Suddenly, I looked up. "Maybe I could fix this…" I whispered to the empty room. I raced across the room and tore open my horribly packed duffle bag.

"Please, please, please tell me I packed it." I hissed to myself as I threw the black clothing across the room. "Aha!" I yelled, pulling out a thick, red leather book.

I settled in one of the large armchairs in the room and flipped through the book. I found the page I was looking for.

Resurrection.

_A/N: HEY! I just saw the "Hellboy II" movie in theatres, definitely one of my favorites! Sorry it took so long for me to write this chapter, I was kinda having writers block… hehe…_

_Anyways, I will write more soon, but right now I'm in Washington DC and the internet connection in my Hotel like sucks so I may not be able to post. But you could always give me some reviews and find out how motivated I am to post new chapters. ;-P_

_So then, reviews equal new chapter faster… and… yeah! _

_Please and thank you,_

_-Kawai_


	9. The Irony of it All

Between the Shadows

The Irony of it All

-Hellboy's POV-

It was like any other mission, I kept telling myself. Just because we had lost two people it didn't make a different. Abe and I could handle anything this place threw at us.

I glanced over to Abe who sat quietly on the other side of the disguised truck. I sighed shortly and glanced out the glass at the passing buildings. It was different without the two girls here.

My eyes lowered a little, but quickly snapped back up. No, I would not admit it. I didn't care for Safiya. It was her choice to leave and leave she did.

But why did I feel so… bad?

-Safiya's POV-

I had to use every bit of willpower I had obtained over the years to not make my phone explode. The small, beeping Blackberry that I owned was perhaps the loudest thing in the universe. At least, compared the silence I had endured the past few days.

I groaned and outstretched one of my hands into the cold of the room. I was curled up in my arm chair, a green blanket wrapped tightly around me. It was freezing.

The Blackberry was cold to the touch and I clicked the "send" button. I stared blankly at the screen for a moment and brought it up to my ear. "What?" I hissed.

"Geez, cranky?" Meyers' voice was familiar, but not exactly welcome.

"What do you want? I'm trying to sleep." I muttered, rubbing my eyes with my free hand, and pushing my hair over my head.

"When exactly do you plan to come back?"

"I'm aiming for… NEVER." I said, my voice growing a little louder in the sudden annoyance.

"You can't seriously be that pissed at him?" He was pushing me again. I groaned.

"He doesn't want me there, you think we'd actually be able to function as a team when he's trying to KILL ME!?"

There was a pause on the other end and for a second I thought he had hung up.

"We need you."

"Noooo, no you don't."

"I'm serious, right now. Abe and Red are on their way to the newest bug sighting. We think this is it."

I groaned loudly and closed my eyes for a moment, letting my mind wander. I found them, they were together, on the move. In the dump trunk, no doubt.

"I'll make an appearance. But this is the last time, got it?" I hissed at him.

I could practically see him smiling triumphantly on the other end. "Seeya soon Safiya!"

-

It was even colder outside the comfort of my apartment. I walked the street, my heels clicking loudly. I wrapped my arms tightly around my torso as the wind through my hair and the leather trail of my jacket in the wind.

My hair wrapped itself around my eyes and I had to stop often to move it away. I hissed to myself and suddenly stopped around the corner. I walked into the small department store. "Scissors, now." I stated.

-

It was definitely easier to walk now, I could see where I was going when I wasn't being blinded by the wind. My ears were cold, but I ignored it. The long trails of hair now laid in a trashcan in an alley. I ran my bare hand over the short crop haircut that I had just given myself.

It was definitely different.

Finally, after what seemed like forever walking, I spotted the familiar sight of the disguised dump trunk. I grinned shortly in memory, but soon my face fell.

I knew what was to come.

Meyers spotted me first, "Safiya!" He exclaimed and rushed to me. I gave him a weak smile. He tousled my hair. I glared at him shortly, but it was playful. "What'd you do?"

"It was getting in the way." I said with a matter-of-factly tone. He grinned and lead me inside the building.

It was much like the other one we explored, slightly hospital like. I stared, almost surprised at the resemblance. But quickly I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a gruff, "What is _it_ doing here?"

I didn't even turn to respond, "Meyers asked me to help, consider it my last mission." I stated and began to walk. Honestly, I just took a wild guess as to where the hell I was going, but apparently I was correct. I glanced at the fully-suited agents who looked like they were prepared for war. "'kay." I mumbled.

I could practically feel his glare on my back and I growled shortly, but kept walking. "Yo, Abe." I said, waving to the blue person standing a few feet away. Another room, but this was different, kind of like a lobby. It had hallways that lead to other hallway; this place seemed to go on forever. I shivered at the familiar feeling.

Pausing, I heard something, like a breathy sigh which echoed through the entire building. A hissing noise, I looked around in surprise. The cold was getting worse. And suddenly, I knew exactly where the bugs were from. I knew exactly why someone created them.

They knew.

And I had to stop them. Walking, almost impossibly fast, I exited the room and quickened my pace to a run as I rounded a corner, and up the stairs. My boots were loud against the floor, my breathing harsh as I turned again and was jolted to a stop. I gasped in and out, staring. "I was right…"

"Congratulations. Daughter."

My jaw clenched lightly as I stared at the horribly familiar person in front of me. "Firefly. Ironic, is that what you were trying to say to me?" I asked, my eyebrows raising slightly as I studied one of the winged creatures next to him. He smirked.

"You learn fast. Expectable. Have you made your choice yet?"

My eyes narrowed slightly, but my hands shook with fear. Bowing my head I looked down, knowing very well the people below were in extreme danger. "Can you bring her back?"

There was a pause and a short chuckle, "But of course, daughter."

"Yes… Father."

-

-Hellboy's POV-

I climbed the steps quietly, wondering exactly who she was talking to. I had witness her run, down the hall. As if something was there. I glanced into the room, my eyes narrowing as I saw her talking… to someone… but I couldn't see who.

She was agreeing to something. Her head was bowed, the short locks of hair were tussled in odd directions, making her look like she had just rolled out of bed.

My breath hitched suddenly, seeing the bugs swarming around her, engulfing her body. I almost ran forward to stop them, but she didn't make a move to get them off her. She simply stood, allowing them to cover her anatomy.

I stared in complete confusion as the bugs slowly disappeared. But who was left, was not Safiya. Who stood there was another … being.

Their skin was a darker color, almost green, the short locks of dark hair replaced by bright, almost burning red. Her back was to me, the skin completely bare, the clothing she previously wore was gone. Along with the scars, all scars, except one. The branding. It had changed, now an almost olive green color, against the darkness of her skin.

Her head tilted up again.

"Daughter." Was heard by the unseen person and she nodded.

I couldn't take it anymore, too many questions. I barged into the room, the door clattering loudly against the opposing wall.

The new Safiya turned slowly to look at me, her eyes were dark, sad even. Her mouth parted slightly in surprise, before she said, speaking in a voice I had never heard her use.

"This is what you wanted, right? She will be returned to you. I promise you." She said, tilting her head to the side. I looked from her over towards a strange looking man. He looked human, then again completely not. A sad smile appeared on her face when I met her eyes. "I'm sorry… Hellboy…" She said, and I blacked out.

_A/N: -dodges pointy objects- Hi! Sorry it took so long to get this up, school started and I had like… 6 hours of homework every night. Stupid CP schools. ._

_Anywho, hope you like this chapter, it's kind of odd… Reviews and you just might get a new one!_

_-Kawai_


	10. Beginning of the End

Between the Shadows

The End

-Hellboy's POV-

"He'll be fine." I groaned slightly at the voice. The light above me was bright enough to pierce my eyelids, allowing me to see bright red.

"Blue?" I said in a hoarse whisper. My head was pounding and my entire body felt weak as I tried to sit up, opening my eyes to look up at the ceiling lights.

"Morning Hellboy." He said nonchalantly. I glanced over at him.

"What the hell happened?"

Abe looked at me funny for a moment before cocking his head to the side in an odd fashion. "I was hoping you knew…"

-

-"Safiya's" POV-

I stood, waiting. Forever waiting, until I was needed. I am nothing more than a fixture, a weapon. Something to be disposed of. My father is a creature of life. He knows the secrets that most gods do not. And for that, he is taking over the realms. I am not his only child, I am the child of Earth. I control the elements of this planet, of this universe. I am based off of the humans, and for that, I feel like they do.

This was my father's faltering point. By giving me emotions, I felt sorrow towards the humans. I wanted to save them, to help them. To be them.

And for that, I ran away. He could not find me for a short period of time, only about 8 years in human time. I masked myself, changing my appearance and even my power. But I am back now, waiting as always. To take over this realm.

I wonder, is he is awake now? If he knows what I did was to help him. If he had been there any further, my father would have killed him.

"_Ah, child of chaos, such a brutal creature." _ That is what he said as he saw him.

Suddenly, I doubled over, gripping my fingernails into my palms. I knew this was going to come, that this was to happen. The splitting pain in my back signified the beginning. The beginning, of the end.

I shriek in pain and let the relief swallow over me as the transformation was complete.

"Are you finished, daughter?"

How I loathed that voice. I nodded into the ground, my fists still clutched as the pain faded. I looked up at him, my eyes filled with sadness. "I am prepared, father."

-

-Hellboy's POV-

I had really begun to dislike the long hallways of the Bureau. Walking was hard, I'm not sure why though. From what Abe had said, they found me in a secluded room, out cold. I grimaced at the memory, Safiya. What had happened to her…?

She had changed, into something completely different. And that guy… who was he? How was she connected to those bugs?

All the questions were beginning to give me a headache as I stumbled into the conference room and sat down heavily.

Just as I let my eyes close, they were snapped back open by the sound of the alarm going off. I groaned at the blinking red light and let my head fall back. "What now?" I groaned, struggling to get up.

-

-Safiya's POV-

Oh how I hated that noise… The screams, terror. But I had seen it coming, when I was first created. I had a purpose, and now I fulfilling it. I felt myself in each creation I made, a little of myself going into them. Feeling the pain of the humans, and also the destruction of the Earth…

Deadly vines wrapped around the buildings, crushing the windows and bricks. Tripping any poor soul too slow to outrun the vastly growing vegetation, only to allow them to be crushed under the massive power. My feet barely brushed against the tip of a vine as I balanced, my eyes searching the destruction.

"Good daughter. Very good… Soon we will make our proposal." He stated; his voice fading as he avoided the chaos.

"Yes… father…" I said to nothing in a sad voice. I lifted one green colored hand, staring blankly for a moment before thrusting it forward, fire erupting from the ground. The screams enhanced and I sighed gently. I looked up at the swirling clouds, how they seemed to emphasize the complete destruction of the city.

"Purpose… this is my purpose… I was created for this…" I kept telling myself over and over as the screams soon bored me. I didn't like this, the time I had to take with each move. Just to scare them all, but not to kill them all. Gunfire was heard briefly and vines jumped to block the incoming bullets.

I turned my head slowly to face the petrified police officers. I felt a pang of regret towards them, only trying to do what was right. Pity. I suppose ignorance was bliss… to an extent.

I put my arm out towards them, palm up. I paused, they waited. Ignorance.

I closed my palm into a fist, making my knuckles a lighter shade of green as the force was strong. The ground below them rumbled with force and strain as the concrete and underlying stones were soon uprooted. The dedicated officers struggled to stay upright, though most of them fell with the twisting and turning ground as soon they were eloped in rubble as the ground came crashing in around them. Their twisted cries of pain and fear were drowned out by the moving rocks and I allowed my arm to go limp as did the stones. Blood splattered the once grey rocks and for a brief moment, I was at loss.

The chaos seemed to pause for a moment, the noises slowing until they died down into nothingness. I didn't even feel the vines jumped, twisting, turning around me as they shielded my precious form from the unnoticed dangers.

Dripping… It was so strange, how a human, something so small, so insignificant, could actually carry something as astounding as blood. How it can influence, kill, nourish.

I blinded as something whizzed by my head and soon the chaos was back. My eyes slid over to see the shaking hand of not a police officer, but a teenager. Couldn't be older than 15, maybe 16. He stood, absolutely shaking to his core as he held the small, measly gun. And yet, the vines did not reach for him. The ground did not shake, and the flames continued on their path through buildings, yards away from us.

I seemed transfixed for a moment, to see such a young, ignorant human to do something so idiotic as take me on. But something was making me descend; the vines which were woven around my form, supporting my weight easily lowered me to the ground. As my feet touched the cold pavement, I felt the pain. The fear and chaos. I felt it all.

The teenager seemed slightly surprised for a moment, to witness me there. His gun lowered ever so slightly, but not enough to be taken of me as a target.

My footsteps were slow, silent. The vines trailed around me, moving rubble and anything that might harm their precious host. As I grew closer, his confusion seemed to heighten.

"There is a fine line between courage and idiocy." I whispered in a low voice as I met him, reaching on hand to touch his cheek, gently trailing my fingers down to his jaw. He shivered lightly, the gun pressing into my chest. I looked down, for the first time realizing it was there.

"Do it…" I whispered; my voice no longer the confident tone I used before. Now, more pleading, more… humane. "Please… kill me…" I dropped my hand and bowed my head, clasping my hands in front of me. "Stop this chaos…"

He seemed bewildered for a moment, surprised I had take sun a ton to his threats. He sputtered for a moment, staring at me with confused eyes before choking out, "Why?" in a hoarse voice.

He had been crying. My throat ached a little and I looked up to meet his gaze. "Because… If you don't kill me… I'll kill you."

The vines took action again, my expression turning blank, and yet something lay deeper than that. Sorrow. Pity.

Fear passed through his vision as the vines twisted up his form, tying to him, immobilizing him. The gun dropped to the ground with the deafening noise of metal on rock ringing through my ears. He choked, gasped for air as the vines twisted around his throat and he struggled against the ivy.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, backing up slightly as the light faded from his eyes and he soon fell limp in the hold of the vines.

They twisted off his body, moving elsewhere to further the destruction. I stared, only a couple feet from where I used to stand, down at this particular body. "Child…"

I was shaken from my thoughts abruptly. A crash, a screech, and yet they stood out. Familiar, but why? I looked around, spinning in confusion. The ground shook but I kept my balance.

I saw it happen a split second before it did, and I bent my head backwards to avoid the abnormally large bullet which whizzed by my head. Something dripped onto my face and stung a little but soon it did not.

"Hellboy…" I whispered staring at the large red figure, the humongous gun pointed at me as the vines twisted and reeled in agony and temptation. "Nice to see you again, son of chaos." I said, a smirk peeling over my face.

_A/N: Ha… ha…. Ha… yeah, Imma go run and die now. Sorry it took so bloody long for me to update again! School and stuff, I finally got a three-day weekend and just started writing. Well, I dunno where else I'm gonna go with this story… If ya'll could get me some ideas via message or review, that'd be great! 'Cause I wanna keep this one going…_

_Review and you'll get another chapter!_

_-Kawai_


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